Hello Tribe Fans Everywhere!
Paul Byrd won only 10 measly games this season, but at least he's not a bellyacher. Once the Tribe finally sent Jason Johnson packing, Byrd became Cleveland's worst starting pitcher in 2006. This is the guy who was supposed to take Kevin Millwood's place in the rotation. Byrd actually posted one more victory than Millwood did, but that doesn't tell half the story.
Millwood, who compiled a league-best 2.86 earned run average in 2005, was a leader on the club. He became a mentor to the young pitchers, and they worshipped the ground he walked on. C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook are better pitchers today for their exposure to Millwood.
Byrd's not a bad guy, even though he tangled in the clubhouse with Bob Wickman earlier in the year. I'd loved to have seen that fight -- two giant dancing bears bouncing off each other in the lockerroom. Since then, the two vets made up and now Byrd says he has an off-season date with Wickman to hunt deer together.
That's what I like about Byrd. He's no Millwood, but, at 33, he's a veteran who can make a big difference in a clubhouse. It's what he has to do next season to make a real impact in Cleveland. He did show that kind of the leadership last night by offering no excuses for his 10-9 season. "I didn't give the Indians what they paid for," said Byrd, who just finished the first of a 2-year, $14-million-plus contract.
He sounded sincere about going home and working to detect the mechanical flaw that made him less effective in the second half of the season. Byrd said he's usually a better second-half pitcher.
As much of a disappointment as this season has been for Tribe fans, little things like Byrd's apology and nice gestures toward the fans by Byrd and Sabathia this week ease your mind a bit. After last night's 5-4 win over Tampa Bay, Byrd tossed his game jersey to fans in the stands. Then he said nice things about the fans.
Earlier in the week, Sabathia signed an autograph for a little boy after the game, and then he took off his game cap, signed it, too, and then handed it over to the kid.
One of my biggest disappointmens as an Indians fan/sportswriter occurred during the 1995 World Series, when I discovered what miserable cretins so many members of that Tribe team where. I'd say at least 7 or 8 players on that club were complete toads, led by the incorrigible Albert Belle.
Conversely, I've found it difficult in recent years to hate the Yankees, because that club had so many good guys.
It shouldn't matter, I suppose, what a player is like once he crosses the white line into civilian life. But it does. I'm glad that if the current Tribesman are going to be losers, at least they're lovable losers.
On another subject, did you see where the days of Jacobs Field -- or at least the name "Jacobs Field" -- are numbered? The Plain Dealer reports that National City Bank is the leading contender to buy the naming rights, which expire at the end of this season.
It will always be "The Jake" to me.
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The answer to yesterday's quickie quiz is: Fausto Carmona. He's the first former Lake County Captains farmhand to advance to the big leagues.
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Today's quiz: Which Cleveland pitcher grew up worshipping then-Tribe shortstop Omar Vizquel. He once said, "I'm walk across a floor littered with broken glass to gaze upon Omar's face."
-- Kevin Cuneo